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Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Ophelia's Toy Box

I’m going to do two blogs today, as I’m a bit caught up in my own blog fever, and can’t decide whether to blog about babies or make up….so decided to do both! First up is the baby blog. I wanted to talk about favourite toys, as we have wasted so much money on toys that Ophelia ignores, and been so surprised by her favourites.

For the record, I like wooden toys. Sorry.....I like quiet, wooden toys. My daughter is less enamored by tasteful, traditional toys and learnt to walk on her bright pink, noisy plastic walker (if I hear ‘Puppy says’ one more time….). She adores it, so much that when we go to playgroup, if there is one in the room she will wrestle off the biggest child if needs be. i/f thee are two in the room, well, what are two hands for? I definitely helped her to walk confidently, and gave her hours of fun, so I would definitely recommend it. (She does have a gorgeous wooden one, filled with hand painted blocks, but that is generally ignored, although the blocks make great throwing ammunition).

Another toy that has been a bit of a hit was her Noah’s Ark shape sorter. Wooden this time (Mummy 1, Fifi, well, I would struggle to count the number of times she has won!), and very sweet. She has learnt all of the animals and their noises, although if anybody can tell me what noise a giraffe makes, do let me know. Flash cards have also been invaluable for helping to learn words, and they are great for car journeys or keeping in your handbag for some entertainment.

Books have just become a new favourite, with, guess what, the noisy ones being top of her list! Ones that have been a particular success are My Zoo Book, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, pop-up story books from Templar publishing (incredible!), and magnet books, although most of the magnets end up down the loo after a few days.

Finally, I have to be honest, the absolutely best thing we have ever bought to entertain Fifi (and us) has been an iPad. I have a technophile husband who wanted one for ages, so I got him one for his birthday last year, and it is Fifi’s most favourite possession in the world (I include myself in that statement). The number of child friendly apps is endless, and I tell myself that they are educational.The apps do seem to teach her words, animal noises (the Sound Touch app is great for this) and shapes, with a bit of Peppa Pig thrown in for good measure. I was always the pregnant lady that judged other mothers for letting their children watch television andplay computer games, yet after an 8 hour flight to the Caribbean involving more screaming than breathing, I understand it all. The iPad buys us a good hour of quiet time, so just enough to fly to Europe (long haul flights are now out of the question until she is at least 18).

I would love to hear what toys your children love. I have definitely noticed that favourites seem to come and go very quickly, so it’s always good to have some ideas for new toys!

3 comments:

Matilda (6 mnths) when not attempting to eat magazines loves mirrors and bells toy. Theo (3 yrs) is mad about thomas tank engine. I too now know about 60 of the names and was most annoyed when on the lotto quiz show the question was to name 8 engines and they gt it wrong. Oh if only xx

My son is almost 2.5 years old and iPhone and iPad were always his favourite toys. To the point that he could say iPad before he could say his name. Baby walker is still around and he ocassionaly plays with it too especially when he sees his little sister playing with it. Another favourite is anything to do with trains.